Copperhill, Tenn. – Andrews head coach James Phillips has never been a huge fan of 7-on-7 scrimmages, but has done more this summer than he ever has before as a coach.
His players told him they wanted to do more this year because they always want to be on the field. It’s a testament to what the Wildcats have done the last two seasons, finishing over .500 for the first time since 1966-67, and where they want to go this year.
“This bunch, I’ve said it since they were freshmen – they love to compete, they love to play,” Phillips said. “They love to be out here, they love to be together.”
Andrews traveled just across the North Carolina state line into Tennessee to scrimmage Copper Basin High School on Thursday, and Phillips had two main things he wanted to get out of it. The first was to shake some rust off, as North Carolina high school sports were in a dead period from July 4-17, when coaches were not allowed to have workouts with athletes at the school. The other was to have some competition outside of themselves.
In the first half, each team got 10 plays to score as many times as possible from the 40-yard line, with a first down coming at the 20-yard line. If a team scored before the 10 plays or turned it over on downs, they reset and started at the 40 again. In the second half, each team got five series, and Andrews mixed in some situational plays on offense and defense starting at the 10-yard line.
Senior quarterback Donovan Bateman was sharp for most of the scrimmage, distributing the ball to multiple receivers. As expected, Isaac Weaver caused trouble for Copper Basin, while senior Cole Anderson, junior Cameron Rattler and sophomore Everett Tatham also had their fair share of big plays.
“Donovan got better last year,” Phillips said of Bateman.
“He doubled his production touchdown-wise from sophomore to as a junior, and he lowered his interceptions down to four last year. My challenge to him this year was let’s go for more touchdowns.”
Phillips said Andrews has had 20-24 kids consistently at summer workouts and expects to have 28-30 kids on the team this fall. Though that’s still a small squad, it’s better than last year, where Andrews had 23 kids before calling up freshmen from the junior varsity team at the end of the season.
The depth will help as the season gets underway, but Phillips and the coaching staff’s goal this summer was to get the offensive and defensive line up another level. The Wildcats showed they have a good group of skill positions players in 7-on-7s, but in the run heavy Smoky Mountain Conference and 1A West, line play separates the good teams from the great teams. Last year, Andrews competed in every game, but little things made the difference in their four losses. Better and more consistent line play could be one of the solutions.
“If we’re going to try to compete where we want to compete at level wise, then we’ve got to have a really good offensive and defensive line,” Phillips said. “And we’ve been working our butts off trying to do that. Getting into practice will work some of that out, and then playing what I think is going to be a really good Franklin team in a scrimmage is going to be a good measuring stick.”
Andrews has one more week of workouts before fall sports can start practicing Monday. The Wildcats host Franklin for a scrimmage Friday, Aug. 12, before traveling to the Hickory Hawks for the season opener Friday, Aug. 19.